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My husband and I recently ventured onto an airplane for the first time with our 6 month old. I will say that the thought of traveling with an infant was fairly daunting (primarily because of all of the stuff you have to take along!), but it went pretty well despite some weather-related hiccups. Though I thought I was pretty prepared, I definitely learned a few things in the process! I get questions about this frequently in the office, so I thought I’d take a chance to share some pearls about flying with an infant that I learned

Book a nonstop flight if at all possible! Even without a baby, I have learned that a nonstop flight is always a better option (if you can stomach the price difference). The AAP recommends reserving a seat for your baby so that they can stay in their carseat during the flight. This is definitely the safest (hands free!) option, but it’s also pretty expensive.

Arrive at the airport EARLY! I will spare you the dirty details of our flight drama (basically, we had 2.5 hours to get to Charlotte from Winston Salem to make a flight to beat an impending snowstorm), but it is much less stressful if you have time to check in and get through security without rushing. Going through security with a baby is a completely new experience!

Travel as compactly as possible. Unless you’re traveling for a very short period of time, pay the $25 to check a bag…it would be very difficult to navigate an airport with a baby and a rolling bag without a few extra sets of hands!

Going through security:

Have milk and baby food easily accessible, as they will ask you to take everything out. If you’re breastfeeding and have breast milk with you, it helps to have the milk poured in 3 oz volumes to prevent further checking (they have to put it through a light scanner if it’s more than 3 oz…won’t harm the milk, but it’s always easier if they don’t have to handle it). I also had an airport employee recommend that you always request they change gloves before handling your breast milk!

If you have a stroller/carseat with you, have blankets, etc. put away before you get to the front of the line, as you will have to collapse everything quickly to put it all through the scanner (I obviously learned this the hard way as we held up a long line of passengers)

You’ll carry the baby through with you – though I didn’t have my little guy in a baby carrier at that time, I think some airports will allow you to keep the baby in the carrier while you go through security

I stressed over the stroller that I’d carry with me (we needed one at our destination). I’d recommend going with lightweight and easy to collapse. I wanted to be able to snap our carseat into ours since we had to lug the carseat around anyway, but that’s completely personal preference!

You can gate check the stroller and carseat (unless you’re taking it on board with you). You can buy gate check bags ahead of time to protect the stroller/carseat from damage, rain, etc.

Do a diaper change before you board. Most airports have family bathrooms with a changing station. I’m sure some fancy, newer airports have lactation areas, but I didn’t have much luck finding one :(

Board early if you can! Consider putting baby in a baby carrier to give you an extra hand – learned this one the hard way as well as we boarded in zone 5 and had to wait to get on the plane. Hard to juggle several bags, stroller, carseat and baby! Biceps were burning once we sat down!

Bring more diapers, wipes, and changes of clothes (for baby and you!) than you think you’ll need. I’m not sure that there are many diapers for sale in airports and you’d hate to get stranded without diapers. I’d also recommend having Tylenol/Motrin/Benadryl or any other medications that you might need.

I took our regular diaper bag, but a backpack might be easier to carry. Bring some new toys to pull out at intervals during the trip to keep baby’s attention. Bring snacks too!

Pacifier clip! Won’t make that mistake again after dropping the pacifier on the airport and airplane floor numerous times…

Nurse/bottle feed/give pacifier during take off and landing (sucking helps equalize the pressure). Don’t forget to pick up a bottle of water for mixing formula if you need it.